This year’s Mobile World Congress is now behind us. And it was quite a show. Android phones got a bump to four cores, camera phones got a bump to 41 megapixels, and reporters and bloggers were run ragged as the wireless industry gave us a glimpse at the stars of their respective portfolios for the first half of 2012. The highlight of the show for us was definitely Microsoft taking the wraps off its Windows 8 Consumer Preview, and our favorite smartphones introduced at the show were HTC’s ultra-sleek One X and its ultra-slim One S. But Mobile World Congress isn’t all about looking forward, it’s also about looking back at some of the mobile technology that has changed our lives in recent history. With that in mind, the GSMA handed out its Global Mobile Awards for 2012 earlier this week. Read on for more. More →

Enterprise mobile vendor Good Technology published a new study on Thursday revealing iOS’s massive market share in the corporate world. The iPad accounted for 96% of all tablets in the fourth quarter according to the firm, while the iPhone accounted for 53% of all smartphones activated by more than 2,000 companies using Good’s services in the fourth quarter. Good provides push messaging, device management and security products for corporate mobile users, competing against RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The company supports Windows Mobile, Symbian, iOS and Android. Apple’s iOS platform rose from 65% to 71% of Good’s business in the fourth quarter, and the iPhone 4S led the way, accounting for 31% of all smartphone models. The top Android device was Samsung’s Galaxy S II, and both Windows Phone and Symbian were pushed out of the top-10 last quarter. Half of Fortune 100 companies use Good’s services, with just over a third of all mobile device activations made by the financial services industry. Good’s full press release follows below. More →

This is a tough break. Just a day after Motorola unveiled the revival of its iconic RAZR brand, and just hours after Samsung and Google took the wraps off Android 4.0 and the Galaxy Nexus, I decided to finally put my thoughts together on the Galaxy S II review unit Samsung sent me a few weeks ago. Samsung’s Galaxy S II might be the fastest-selling smartphone the vendor has ever released, but it doesn’t have a 7.1-millimeter-thin Kevlar case or a sleek curved glass screen. It doesn’t have 4G LTE speed or a qHD display, and it probably won’t be updated with Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS in the immediate future. But does that mean the millions of consumers who have purchased the device over the past few months should feel that their smartphone of choice has just been outclassed? My thoughts follow below.

Apple’s iPhone 4 was still the best-selling smartphone at both AT&T and Verizon Wireless in September while the Samsung Galaxy S II, Epic 4G Touch topped Sprint’s smartphone lineup and the HTC Sensation was No. 1 at T-Mobile. Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley on Monday revealed the results of checks the firm performed recently, and the resulting estimates paint an all too familiar picture of the smartphone landscape in the U.S. last month. Read on for more. More →

Samsung is set to announce the U.S. variants of its GALAXY S II smartphone on Tuesday during a press event in New York City and a recent leak gives us a peak of what we can expect to be unveiled. On Friday, Pocketnow published a purported image of the GALAXY S II phones that are headed to AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. Judging from the picture, AT&T’s iteration remains relatively unchanged from the European model but we notice it does lack the hardware home button. The models headed toward T-Mobile and Sprint appear to ditch the sharp corners for more rounded edges. As we already know, Verizon Wireless will not announce a Galaxy S II model on August 29th, but we exclusively brought you the news that it will indeed offer a comparable device in the future. We also exclusively reported that Sprint’s S II will be branded as the Samsung Epic Touch 4G, and it looks like the name will stick when these sleek Samsung smartphones are unveiled on Tuesday. We’ll be on hand reporting live from the event, weather permitting. More →

BGR has obtained exclusive images of AT&T’s upcoming Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone. Following our report on Monday showing an unnamed Samsung slider headed to AT&T, we have confirmed that the device pictured is indeed a variant of Samsung’s blockbuster Galaxy S II headed to AT&T. Live images of the device reveal the Galaxy S II model number, SGH-I927, along with additional details surrounding the sleek Gingerbread phone. While it appears as though Samsung managed to keep AT&T’s Galaxy S II relatively slender in spite of adding on a full sliding QWERTY keyboard, the textured back cover on the phone looks like a bit of an eyesore. The Galaxy S II is already the fastest-selling Samsung smartphone of all time, and it has yet to launch on a single carrier in the U.S. market. While U.S. carrier versions of the smartphone are expected to arrive in August, release timing and pricing for the AT&T version pictured here are not yet available. It is also unclear whether the device will launch with the Galaxy S II moniker or with AT&T’s own branding as the original Galaxy S did. Several additional images, including a pair that shows off some very impressive benchmark test results, follow below. More →

Samsung on Sunday announced that its Galaxy S II smartphone has quickly become the fastest-selling smartphone in the South Korean technology giant’s history. Shipments of the company’s new superphone have topped 3 million units in just 55 days, meaning Samsung has shipped an average of more than 54,545 Galaxy S II smartphones each day since its release. Impressively, Samsung achieved the feat before the device even launched in the U.S., one of the company’s top markets for its original Galaxy S smartphone — which took 85 days to reach the same 3 million-device milestone. “Announced at Mobile World Congress 2011, the GALAXY S II represents our most advanced smartphone to date and demonstrates Samsung’s commitment to deliver premium, market-defining devices,” said Samsung’s mobile boss, J. K. Shin, in a statement. “This milestone reflects the continued strong support from our carrier partners around the world who have chosen the GALAXY S II as their flagship Android device.” Samsung’s full note to the press follows below. More →

There are countless methods research firms use in an attempt to amass useful data for their analyses, and perhaps one of the most underutilized sources of sentiment at this point in time is social chatter. Several progressive firms have emerged recently, however, and they see the value in scouring the social web for freely-available data, and that data can be extremely valuable to researchers and businesses alike. Case in point: using online social mentions and opinion between April 1st and June 21st as a gauge, social media listening firm Mashwork has determined that the Samsung Galaxy S II is the more highly anticipated upcoming Android superphone compared to the Motorola DROID BIONIC. Data from 14,838 users across Facebook, Twitter and other social networking services shows that 68% of prospective buyers are interested in purchasing the Galaxy S II while 32% are interested in the DROID BIONIC. More specifically, 39% of of the unsolicited opinions gathered stated that they will purchase the Galaxy S II and 29% expressed interest in buying the phone. Meanwhile, 19% said they would be purchasing the DROID BIONIC and 13% simply expressed interest. In terms of trends, interest in the Galaxy S II is on the rise leading up to the smartphone’s launch while interest in the DROID BIONIC has decreased over the past two months. Mashwork’s infographic detailing social opinions on the two phones follows below. More →

Verizon Wireless confirmed on Wednesday that it will launch Samsung’s second-generation Galaxy S “superphone” next month. Speaking to Computerworld, the carrier confirmed that it would launch the Samsung Galaxy S II “Function” some time in July. Featuring a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the Galaxy S II is at the forefront of a new generation of more powerful Android smartphones that will launch this year. BGR reviewed an unlocked global version of the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone last month, and we said it was “the greatest Android smartphone available on the planet” at that time. Each of the four major carriers in the U.S. carried the original Samsung Galaxy S under varied names, and they were all very good sellers. As such, it is reasonable to believe each carrier could carry its successor.

UPDATE: The carrier said that this was a slip up, and that they were referring to the impending Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch on Verizon Wireless. More →

We didn’t just grab a Samsung Infuse 4G last night, we also took possession of the company’s latest flagship Android device, the Samsung Galaxy S II. This particular device supports AT&T’s 3G 4G bands which is a welcome feature, and while it looks nearly identical to the Infuse 4G, we have to say… this is now our favorite Android device out of Samsung. With a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel camera, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread all stuffed into a 8.49mm thin body, this phone is the one to beat. Samsung’s 4.27-inch Super AMOLED Plus display looks great on here, and the TouchWiz UI doesn’t seem to get in the way too much — at least not like it used to. With that said, Samsung’s included keyboard is useless due to its lack of autocorrect as you type — we really need to see this fixed as soon as possible. Battery life seems to be more than adequate in the limited time we’ve spent with the phone; specifically, standby time seems like it could go for days. We’ll be rocking away on a review of the Samsung Galaxy S II, but in the meantime, you know where to find the hands-on photos.

Samsung has confirmed via an official Twitter account that the Galaxy S II, its upcoming flagship Android smartphone, will launch as planned in April. There were rumors that the device would be delayed due to speculation that Samsung had plans to upgrade the 1GHz dual-core Cotex-A9 processor to 1.2GHz. Samsung officially announced the Galaxy S II on February 13th during Mobile World Congress 2011. It offers Samsung’s next generation 4.3-inch Super-AMOLED Plus display, an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), and Samsung’s new TouchWiz 4.0 user interface. Samsung hasn’t confirmed exactly when it will launch this month, but if you need something to tide you over, be sure to check out our hands-on. More →